so I have some end of year cash to buy a toy and was considering a SDRPlay vs Redpitaya

my primary goals are to have the ability to use linux projects like rtlsdr_wsprd to be multi band always on rx boxes. The thing I dont understand from online material is will this kit work with the sdr linux library so I can port or use projects that are created.. or new projects that the community has?

is this project working with raspberry PI and the likes of "headless" reception of digital modes. or is the only interface the fat client SDR app today? if so when is expected community apps for linux and decoding digital modes in beacon style with unattended operations.

SDRplay have released their API for Linux on x86 as well as Raspberry Pi. Third parties libraries are being upgraded to support this and the RSP-2 as we speak, but today you might not find your favorite library ready to use. The RSP-1 will work with most software today, though. Software explicit written for the RTL2832 chip, such as (I assume) rtlsdr-wsprd you may never be able to run on SDRplay RSP unless modified.

The Ret Pitaya on the other hand, is not an SDR receiver at all, but as an ADC it can be used to receive HF and lower with a proper RF front end. You will have a harder time to find SDR libraries for this compared to SDRplay since it is not its main purpose.

Both SDRplay RSP and the Red Pitaya are interesting pieces of hardware, but not really comparable, unless you have a very specific application in mind. If this is radio, I'd absolutely go for the RSP. Need stable functionality today? RSP-1. Want better hardware, and can wait and/or work (= programming) a bit more to get it up and running? RSP-2.